


Signals Crossed

by Pigzxo



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Compulsion, M/M, Miscommunication, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 10:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25469380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pigzxo/pseuds/Pigzxo
Summary: Basira almost exposes Martin's crush on Jon but, luckily, Jon doesn't seem to realize that's what happened. He can't let it go though which leads to a series of conversations that only confuse him further.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56





	Signals Crossed

  1. **Basira**



Jon kept his head down as he flipped through the files Basira had handed him. He bit back a sigh as every profile he glimpsed failed to match the victim’s description. “This is all you managed to find?” he asked.

She shrugged. “That’s all. Tim’s busy not doing his job and, well, Martin’s—”

“All but incompetent, yes.” Jon shuffled the papers to the side and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

Under her breath, Basira muttered, “And we all know why that is.”

He glanced up, surprised. “He told you?” An odd curiosity settled on his shoulders. Martin had only told him that he lied on his resume because he might have had a mental breakdown otherwise. It was one of the main reasons he trusted Martin more than the others. “I rather thought he wanted it kept a secret.”

Basira opened her mouth to reply, her eyes wide. She shut her mouth abruptly, shook her head, and took a step forward. “He told _you_?” she stage-whispered.

“Yes.” Jon sighed and then hedged, “Well, I’m afraid I may have frightened him into it.” He chuckled uncomfortably. “I was actually a little rough with him—”

“Nope.” She stepped back sharply and raised her hands as if to ward him off. “No, thank you, sir. I don’t really need to know the details.” She licked her lips and looked off to the side, as if searching for a change in the conversation.

Jon stared at her, unsure what he had said. “Is there anything—”

At the same time, she began, “You’re telling me—” She swallowed. “Sorry, sir. But this… _this_ is Martin with resolved sexual tension and not just him… pining awkwardly?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I…” She stopped herself, eyes narrowing.

“Basira, what are you talking about?”

“What are you talking about?”

Jon stared at her, his mouth half open. If she had no idea that Martin had lied, then he had no business breaching his trust. And he had no idea what she was on about. As his brain fought to wrap itself around the conversation – really, what was the use of being the avatar of the Eye if he couldn’t understand a simple dialogue – Basira made her excuses and left.

  1. **Martin**



A knock sounded on his office door and Jon called for the person to enter. As he glanced up, he saw Martin holding a steaming mug of tea. He eyed him curiously, the conversation with Basira playing in his head.

“Sorry, sir. It’s just, it’s been a while since you’re left the office and I thought you might… I mean, you usually take tea around this time so…” Martin stammered his way over to Jon’s desk and set down the tea. He stepped back, rubbing his hands together. “Is there anything else that you… need?”

Jon realized he was staring. He blinked, coughed, and looked back at the statement in his hands. He had already recorded both it and his notes but his eyes kept falling back to it. He was missing something. And now, here was the missing piece of his conversation from earlier.

“I had…” he began, not quite sure what he wanted, “an odd conversation with Basira earlier. About you and me.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. She seemed to think there was a reason that you’re…” Jon trailed off. As likely as it was that Martin knew exactly how Jon had felt about him during his first few months as the archivist, it felt rather rude to say so aloud. And Martin had gotten better, for the most part. “Well. She said something odd about you…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words “sexual tension” out loud. It felt like harassment. He was almost sure it _was_ harassment, now that he thought about it.

“Sir?”

“Never mind.” Jon waved him away. “Thank you for the tea, Martin.”

Martin gave an awkward salute and then quickly clenched his hand into a fist. He nodded and exited the office.

  1. **Tim**



The case would not leave Jon alone. He tried to move on, to do other work, to find the next case he should read, but the one on his desk stared at him with accusing ink. He flicked through the pages for the hundredth time.

His office door opened and Tim stalked in. He tossed a handful of papers onto the desk. “That’s all there is on the Mahoney disappearance. A big load of crap if you ask me, but—” He shrugged with a bitter smile “—you wanted to see it.”

“Thank you.” Jon muttered as Tim headed for the door. And then, before he could stop himself, he said, “Wait.”

Tim turned at the door, his fingers tapping impatiently against the doorframe. His shirt was untucked and he was unshaven. For a mere second, his fatigue almost overwhelmed the annoyance and obvious hatred in his eyes.

“I had an odd conversation with Basira yesterday.” Jon had no idea why his brain was still on this. Between the case and that conversation, he had no room to think of anything else. Maybe Tim could help on one front. “I was wondering if maybe you could help me parse it.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed but he slumped against the doorframe, waiting.

“She said something about…” Jon scrambled to put the words together in his brain. It had felt like they were having two different conversations. “Well, you know that Martin isn’t necessarily the… best person for this position.” Even that felt like a betrayal. Jon bit his tongue but the words were already out.

Tim shrugged. “Not sure exactly what the qualifications are for being trapped against your will by a giant asshole of an eyeball but… yes.”

Jon bristled. He forced himself to let out a breath. “Yes. Well. Basira said she knew why Martin’s not… well, why, anyways. She said it had something to do with me and him and…” He sighed. Tim hated him anyways and he highly doubted that Elias would fire him and subsequently kill him for a sexual harassment claim based on two words. “And sexual tension.” Jon waved his hand in the air, trying to get across that he found the whole thing ridiculous.

Tim stared at him. Something in his gaze had sharpened. He looked almost giddy. “You’re kidding me.”

“I’m… not.”

He laughed. “Oh, god. No wonder we don’t get along. I’ll fuck anything that moves and you can’t even tell when someone’s throwing themselves at you.” He slammed the door as he left, still laughing.

  1. **Melanie**



“So you’re saying there’s nothing.” Jon heard the tightness in his voice and hated it. He tried to unclench his jaw but only succeeded in grinding his teeth.

Melanie shrugged. She sat slumped in the chair across from him, one leg crossed over the other. Her foot drew lazy circles in the air. “No one in my circles knows anything about the old church on the Mahoney property. That could just be because it’s private land but… none of them are exactly opposed to trespassing so…” She shrugged again and nearly dropped the pen twirling between her fingers.

“Right.” He sighed and all the fight left his body. Three days with this case and still no leads. The original statement giver had died a week after leaving the Institute. Jon was beginning to believe that it wasn’t the things they gave statements about killing them but the Institute itself.

“Are you all right?”

“You care?”

Melanie shrugged, her smile sharp. “Georgie’s been asking me to check up on you. Apparently once you moved out, you ghosted her all over again.”

“I didn’t…” Jon trailed off. He wasn’t completely sure what “ghosted” meant so he figured arguing against its use wasn’t in his best interest.

Melanie shifted forward in her chair. “Hey. Is it just this case that’s bothering you or is there… something else?”

His mind drifted to the conversation with Basira. He almost had it, he was sure. She thought there was sexual tension between him and Martin. That was simple enough. But why she thought that was completely beyond him and even the thought itself seemed incredibly foreign to him.

“Jon?”

He shook his head. “Basira said… Melanie, do you think I have sexual tension with anyone in the office?”

She laughed. “Jon, I don’t think you’ve ever had sexual tension with anyone. From talking to Georgie, I wasn’t sure you knew what that _meant_.”

“Right. Thank you.” Jon relaxed. For once, being laughed at felt like exactly what he needed. “I think she said something about it being resolved or pining, I don’t know. It was ridiculous.”

Melanie’s smile softened. “Was she talking about Martin?”

“I…” Jon’s shoulders shot up. “Yes.”

She laughed again and stood. “Let me know if you need anything else, Jon.” She left.

  1. **Daisy**



“What did you do to Basira?” Daisy asked, her arms crossed.

Jon looked up. He hadn’t noticed her enter. The office had grown dark and he glanced at the clock – just after midnight. He shook his head to wake himself up and then tried to parse Daisy’s question. “Nothing that I can think of,” he replied.

“She’s avoiding you.” Daisy slammed a file onto his desk. “That’s the Section 31 the officer on the Mahoney case signed before it was covered up. Unredacted.”

Jon reached for it. “Thank you.”

She slammed her hand down on the edge of it and bent so her face was inches from his own. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were on fire. Jon flinched. She said, “Why is Basira avoiding you?”

“I don’t know, do I?” he snapped. He pulled the file from her. “We had a weird conversation. I don’t believe I made her uncomfortable but, according to my staff, I have the social and emotional intelligence of a toddler, so I may be mistaken.”

Daisy scoffed. “At least you’re aware of it.”

He glared at her.

“Have a good night, Jon.”

“Wait.” He hadn’t expected her to stop but maybe it was the sharpness of his voice that brought her to a standstill. She cocked an eyebrow. “Do _you_ know what Basira was talking about? Something about me and Martin and—”

“Sorry. Do I look like your therapist?”

“No, I don’t have a—”

“Shocking.” Daisy made her way to the door. “Here’s a novel idea, Jon. If you want to know what someone was talking about, how about you fucking ask them?”

**+1. Martin**

Jon woke the next morning to a knock on his office door. The desk’s edge dug into his cheek and his first inhale took in mostly paper particles and not air. He coughed and startled upright, nearly falling off his chair as it tried to roll out from under him. As he looked up, Martin cracked the door open and poked his head in.

“Martin,” Jon said. His voice cracked and he cleared his throat.

“Did you sleep here?” Martin stepped into the office, concern wrinkling his face.

“It appears so.”

“Okay, well… I’ll, I’ll bring you some tea. And maybe some eggs. Or an English muffin.” Martin listed off breakfast food like his job was taking fast food orders and not organizing the archive. “Do you drink coffee? I’ve never seen you drink it but given that you slept on your desk, it seems it might perk you up more than tea.”

“Tea is fine, Martin.” Jon shuffled some papers on his desk. “No breakfast.”

Even with that demand, Martin came back with a pot of black tea and a full English breakfast. He balanced it all awkwardly through the door and set it on Jon’s desk, careful to avoid any of the many papers associated with the Mahoney case that were spread across his desk. Even with Daisy’s unredacted files, the case was a mess.

Jon sat up as he saw the steaming plate of food in front of him. He sighed, more to himself than anyone else, and asked, “Why do you do all this for me, Martin?” He felt the compulsion on his tongue before he heard it but the question was so innocuous and he was so tired that he didn’t try to take it back.

“Because I love you.”

Jon’s head snapped up.

From the blush spreading across Martin’s cheek and the way he stood like a soldier told to be at ease, it was obvious he had not meant to say that aloud. He fastidiously avoided looking at Jon. “Will there be anything else, sir?”

“Umm…” Jon tried the same approach, attempting to look anywhere other than Martin, but couldn’t quite pull it off. Martin’s blush drew him in and the pieces of at least one mystery fell into place. Of course. Basira thought Martin was bad at his job because he had a crush on the boss. And Tim thought he was an idiot for not noticing said crush. Jon wasn’t sure how he’d managed to miss that. “Martin, we should—”

“No. Sorry, no, sir. I would… I would much prefer to just leave, sir.”

“Right. Of course. You can go.” Jon’s eyes fixed on the back of Martin’s head as he went. Something in his chest beat a little too hard and he realized with a start that it was his heart. Some part of him had gotten used to these small gestures from Martin, even liked them. Some part of him had known exactly what all those little hints had meant, even if his brain had struggled to catch up. “Martin,” he said suddenly, unsure what exactly he was going to say.

Martin turned at the door, his eyes wide and hopeful, his cheeks still red. “Yes, sir?”

“Would you like to…” Jon licked his lips and looked away. “Would you like to get dinner sometime?”

“I… uhh, yes?”

“Good. I’ll, umm, I’ll set something up.” Jon tapped his pen against the desk. “Tonight?”

“Sure. Tonight.”

Jon looked up to see a brilliant smile on Martin’s face before the door shut behind him. Jon smiled too.


End file.
